Nitro Commerce, LetsDressUp, two others raise early-stage funding

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 25 Jun 2024
Veer Mishra, founder, Plus Gold

Marketing technology startup Nitro Commerce, apparel maker LetsDressUp and fintech startups Plus Gold and LXME secured early-stage funding, the companies said on Tuesday. 

Nitro Commerce has raised $1.8 million (Rs 15 crore) as part of a larger Rs 50-crore funding round. The investment was led by Cornerstone Venture Partners, while Warmup Ventures, Lead Angels, Dholakia Ventures, India Accelerator as well as individual investors like Arjun Vaidya, Kunal Khattar, Nikunj Jain and Piyush Jain.  

Founded by Umair Mohammed, who also founded Wizgo Technologies, Nitro Commerce is a marketing technology platform. Its full-stack revenue-as-a-service platform is focused on e-commerce and D2C markets that aid the top and middle of the funnel to increase revenue.  

“We are working towards enabling brands and partners both through our proprietary-cookieless tech to solve customer acquisition-related challenges with a secure and privacy-first approach,” said Mohammed, founder and chief executive officer, Nitro Commerce.  

Women-focused apparel brand LetsDressUp has raised $1.3 million (Rs 11 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round from GVFL Ltd, Indian Angel Network (IAN), and The Chennai Angels. Existing investors, including Titan Capital, also participated in this round.  

The company will use thefund to improve its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven design technology, expand presence across channels and categories and to expand the teams across verticals.  

Founded by Drishti Anand and Aditya Balani, LetsDressUp is a women-focused apparel brand with a zero-dead inventory model.  

"LDU is at an inflection point wherein the platform is on the precipice to increase its annualised run rate from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore in the coming few months and this funding round will play a key role in that," said Balani, co-founder, LetsDressUp. 

Plus Gold   

Plus Gold has raised $1.2 million (Rs 10 crore) in a seed funding round led by JITO Angel Network.    

The round also saw participation from early-stage investment firm Venture Catalysts, Signal Ventures and angel investors such as Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha and tech entrepreneur Sachin Shetty.   

The funding will be strategically deployed to improve Plus Gold's technological infrastructure, along with team expansion, particularly in technology and customer service roles.   

Founded by Veer Mishra and Raj Parekh, the platform allows users to invest in gold through systematic investment plans (SIPs) or one-time transactions. The platform allows users to redeem their digital gold investments as physical jewellery, thus combining modern investment practices with traditional gold ownership.   

"The funds will be used to refine our technology, expand our user base, and introduce innovative features. Our goal is to make gold investment as easy and accessible as using a smartphone app,” said Mishra, co-founder, Plus Gold.   

LXME   

Women-focused fintech startup LXME has raised $1.2 million in a seed funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Kalaari Capital’s women entrepreneurs-focused CXXO initiative.   

The round also saw participation from Yash Kela of Founders Collective Fund, Amaya Ventures, the family office of Amit Khanna, Capri Holdings, Aditi Kothari of DSP and Adiko Holdings, among others.    

With the current fundraise, the startup will invest in brand-building and user acquisition efforts across India. It will also invest in its technology and product stack to improve user experience and engagement.   

Founded by Priti Rathi Gupta and Ridhi Kanoria Doongursee, LXME is a fintech platform that offers women tailored products such as mutual funds, loans, prepaid shopping cards, financial education and access to a community of like-minded peers. It has a community base of over 400,000 women across various channels.